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In the Seychelles, the buzz is all around the arrival of Six Senses Zil Pasyon (www.sixsenses.com; villas from €1,200), whose villas and residences, numbering 47 in total, line part of the coast of 650-acre Felicité Island – two-thirds of which is given over to nature, leaving plenty of room for a 19,000sq ft spa, six restaurants and three wide sand beaches. And to the east, in the Bay of Bengal, yet another flag – this one flying five stars – has been planted in the fast-emerging Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Vivanta By Taj at Havelock (www.vivanta.tajhotels.com; scheduled to open in spring) will be the first full-service luxury beach resort on Havelock island, its 75 villas, designed in the pitch-roofed style of the huts of the indigenous Jarawa people, flush with the edge where thick palm jungle meets powdery sand.